Other Hong Kong stars such as Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen, Gigi Leung and Peter Ho will also take part.

Kwok told a news conference Sunday that he hoped his character would come off better in the new movie than he does in tradition.

“In Donnie Yen’s action design, I hope the Buffalo Demon King can beat Jade Emperor in fights,” he said.

To create the 3-D effects needed for Monkey King, the film’s producers have employed a Hollywood team including David Ebner, who worked on “Alice in Wonderland” and “Spider-Man 3.” Daniel Symmes is cinematographer.

The popularity of 3-D movies has surged in China. James Cameron’s Avatar took $206 million in box office revenues in China earlier this year, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Monkey King is budgeted at $40 million and is expected to make a positive return at the domestic Chinese box-office when it opens in July 2012. Approximately a third or more than 1,100 of China’s movie screens are 3-D screens, according to Xinhua.